Air pickup and suction device



D 22, 1953 H. E. WUNDERLICH 2,663,243

AIR PICKUP AND SUCTION DEVICE Filed July 30, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet lDIRECTION OF FAN ROTATION HENRY E. wuuoenucu Zmventor as g M (IttornexgsDec. 22, 1953 Filed July 30, 1951 H. E. WUNDERLlCH AIR PICKUP ANDSUCTION DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 HEN RY E. WUNDERLICH 'Z'mventor (Ittornegs Patented Dec. 22, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AIR PICKUPAND SUCTION DEVICE Henry E. Wunderlich, Seattle, Wash.

Application July 30, 1951, Serial No. 239,318

3 Claims.

This present invention consists of a plurality of devices which make itpossible to provide a ventilating system for the various types of carsemploying a wide range of closedbodies. The equipment provides first forthe pickup of air, preferably from the cooling fan of the automobile,and carries this air by suitable tubing to a rear point in the car body.The same pickup de vice, in the nature of a funnel, which collects airunder pressure for the supply of fresh air to the car, also creates apowerful suction; this is led by suitable tubing to a point preferablyunder the dash of the car so that a complete ventilating system isprovided with fresh air introduced into the car and with a certainamount exhausted from the car body. This makes it possible to provide aventilating means for any type of closed car wherein it will not benecessary to open the windows, or other ventilating devices, in order toventilate'the car body properly as far as the supply of an adequateamount of fresh oxygen-bearing air is concerned.

This present invention employs equipment somewhat similar to that shownin my copending application Serial No. 224,692. However in my formercase it was necessary to provide points for the entrance of air into thecar body. This was achieved by use of the normal ventilating means or bylowering slightly one or more of the car windows. With this presentequipment, which is the subject matter of this present application, thisis no longer necessary although it has been found that a combination ofthe devices of my copending application and those of this presentapplication provide a very desirable ventilating system for the averageclosed car.

The present day automobile is resplendent with many devices which addmaterially to the comfort of the passengers. However, the manufacturersare required to adopt a compromise form of design that will be receivedfavorably in various parts of the country and to endeavor at the sametime to keep the customers purchase price always to the lowest possiblelevel. Many times with this limitation it is not possible to provideadequate ventilation for many parts of the country. Ventilation alsobecomes an increasingly perplexing problem as the cars begin to age andgreater amounts of oil are used by the motors and this in turn isconverted into noxious gases, which again, due to the depreciation ofthe car, find more or less ready access into the car body from gaps thathave been opened up through the long period of use. This presentequipment is provided to supply a means that will be adaptable to 2 awide range of climatic conditions and further one that may be added to acar even after the car has been run for some time and the need forthorough eradication of noxious gases, some of which are poisonous,becomes increasingly desirable.

The principal object of my present invention, therefore, is to provide aventilating means for closed car bodies which will on the one handeliminate noxious and poisonous gases and further will resupply anadequate amount of oxygenbearing fresh air so that suilicientventilation can be obtained without the use of auxiliary ventilation,which is in turn particularly undesirable especially in cold weather,rainy weather, or in conditions where dust is air borne to the extentthat it becomes very unpleasant.

A further object of this invention is to provide means whereby air underconsiderable pressure and relatively high velocity can be introducedinto the rear portion of a closed car body.

A further object of this invention is to provide means for theeradication of the lower strata of gases in a car body so as toeliminate the noxious and poisonous gases and prevent their mixingunduly with the incoming fresh air.

A further object of this invention is to provide means that cannot beblocked easily which will remove water vapor and gases from the lowerportions of the car body and especially the rear or luggage compartmentof an automobile.

A further object of this invention is to provide a ventilating means forclosed car bodies which will have a convenient control arrangement sothe driver, from his driving position, will have full control of theventilatin means of his car,

Further objects, advantages and capabilities will be apparent from thedescription and disclosure in the drawings, or may be comprehended orare inherent in the device.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view illustrating the pickup unit of myventilating means together with the control means employed therewith;

Figure 2 is a front elevation of the device of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a schematic form of drawing illustrating the preferredemplacement of my various devices employed to complete a ventilatingsystem for automobile bodies;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken along the line 44of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a perspective view showing the airdischarge device employedwith my equipment;

Figure 6 is a typical, longitudinal vertical sec tional View through apreferred form of my air and vapor discharge devices; and

Figure 7 is a perspective view showing the throating members of the airpickup device with adjacent parts shown in dotted lines.

Referring more particularly to the disclosure in the drawings, thenumeral It designates the funnel-like air pickup means which is mountedon a suitable bracket l2 immediately behind and in the drift stream ofthe cooling fan M of the cars motor. The funnel-like portion It isprovided with an air siphon arrangement formed by the air-discharge tubeIt and the air-suction tube l3. This general arrangement, together withthe unique throating arrangement viewed in Figures 2 and e in which aVenturi shelf to and a generally U-shaped member ii are employed, is toincrease the suction within pipe l3. This general construction issimilar to that shown in my copending application to which I have abovereferred. Disposed around the enlarged end of funnel is is an airselector band or cylinder 22. This band prevents the excess air which isdriven at relatively high speed by ian I4 from spilling oif around themargins of funnel it and insures delivery of high velocity air to thecar air intake tube 24. This tube is inclined backwardly with respect tothe plane of the front of funnel iii and at the same time is disposedsomewhat tangentially with the circle of cylinder 22. Theserelationships are illustrated quite thoroughly in Figures 1 and 2. Asviewed in Figure 2, tube 25 is suitable for use with a fan it revolvingin a clockwise direction. The slope in both planes of tube 2J3 has beenfound to substantially increase the velocity of air through tube 29Within tube 2 3 is disposed a suitable valve means as the butterfiyialveThis valve is disposed for partial rotation upon shaft 28, and it isarranged so that it may be adjusted to shut oil entirely the flow of airthrough tube it which it will do when it assumes the dotted lineposition shown in Figure 4. This closure is desirable under hot or dustyconditions. A conventional flexible wire control is shown having themovable wire 23 and the fixed tube 25; a tension spring -21 insures thatvalve member 223 will normally be held in its'open position. As airpressure built up within cylinder 2E and is drawn out through pipe 24,it is led by means of a flexible conduit 29 to the rear of theautomobile body where it is discharged out through the air dischargenozzle The flexible conduit is suitably supported from the car body,preferably passed under the same, by a phirality of clip members 32.

The air discharge nozzle 39 is provided with a tubular portion 34 towhich is connected the flexible conduit and the air discharged therefrom passes upwardly and is directed by deflector 36 against the backrear window iii of the automobile body. Deflector 35 forms an acuteangle with rear window 3! so as together to form a narrow dischargeorifice 3:3 to direct a stream of air against the rear window. In orderto insure proper direction of the discharged air, the nozzle is providedwith a floor portion 38, end portions at and 4t and securing tabs t3 andM, each of which is pierced with suitable openings so that metal or woodscrews, as the construction of the body indicates, may pass therethroughand thus fixedly position the discharge nozzle.

Secured to the air suction tube 18 is a second flexible conduit 36 whichis led to a suction opening t8. Thus this one unit, as illustrated inFigures 1 and 2, is capable of projecting a high velocity stream offresh air into the rear of the automobile body, and at the same timesuction arrangement is provided through means of opening 38, conduit 46,and the air suction tube 18, where the air is then passed out throughthe siphon discharge tube It.

This ventilating plan provides for a complete ventilating cycle. Inother words, warm fresh air is passed into the car body and discharged.out through nozzle til and stale air is discharged through the suctionarrangement of the car. This arrangement is capable of being used byitself and under many conditions satisfies fully the requirements for aventilating means; how-- ever it can normally be greatly assisted, andthe workability of the system vastly improved, by employing a pluralityof the units shown in Figure 6 and which correspond to a degree to theunit employed in my copending application.

It has been found however for the best allaround result that the pickupdevice employing the funnel it should be or" fair size in order that anadequate amount of fresh air will be forced into the car body. This airis driven by considerable force due to the fact that the pickup is madeimmediately behind the cooling ian, and preferably out near the bladetips of the fan, so that maximum impact is given to the air to the endthat it will be moving at maximum speed. Under some conditions it hasbeen found that there is a tendency to build up a certain degree ofpressure within the car body and it then becomes desirable to employunits as shown in Figure 6 to draw oil the excess air and thus preventthe building up of pressure within the closed body. Units of Figure 6are preferably made considerably smaller in air handling capacity fromthe unit of Figure 1 to the that a plurality of the same may be employedand thus the oil, smoke, carbon dioxide and other gases that haveinfiltrated into the car, and which normally lie adjacent the floor, canbe drawn out and be prevented from mixing with the fresh incoming air sokeeping the air within the car, up at breathing level, substantiallypure and clean.

It further has been found that a unit made after th showing of Figure 6,employed in the rear or trunk compartment of the car indicated at til,also will draw oif any water vapor that may have collected within theluggage compartment and thus condensation wetting of baggage and thelike in the rear compartment would be entirely avoided. Suction 532 soemployed is preferably arranged to extend upwardly well above floor a lso the upwardly extending portion 56 may be pierced with a plurality ofopenings 51; and if the end of the tube-should be covered by baggage orthe like there will be adequate openings as 51, some or" which should bedisposed as at floor level, to provide for the free removal of the watervapor and heavier gases in the rear compartment. The rear compartmentusually is a collecting point for the heavier exhaust gases due to itsproximity to the discharge of the exhaust and the fact that usuallythere is a certain do gree of Vacuum created in it. The various othertubes 58, if they are positioned substantially as shown in Figure canalso be extended up above th floor and treated in the same manner withmuch improvement in their effectiveness.

In portraying the various items making up this present air pickupconstruction arrangement, adequate means is provided so that a workablesystem can be employed that will meet the wide range of requirementsimposed by the unusual conditions under which automobiles, boats andairplanes must be operated in various parts of our country and duringvarious seasons of the year. With this present pickup it is possible toventilate fully an automobile, boat or airplane, to completely eradicateall harmful or noxious gases, and to keep the car free of water vaporsWithout employing any of the emergency ventilating means of the car, orhaving the windows open to assist in ventilating. Further this presentunit works independently of, and will not interfere with, the properfunctioning of the various types of automobile body heaters now beingused so generally. These devices have proven very useful in ventilatingthe boxed-in motors as now generally employed on pleasure boats and thisgreatly reduces the danger of fire or explosion incidental thereto.

It is believed that it will be clearly apparent from the abovedescription and the d sclosure in the drawings that the inventioncomprehends a novel construction of an air pickup and suction device.

What I claim is:

1. A ventilating system in an automobile activated by the engine fan anddischarging air below the rear window and picking up air below thedashboard, comprising: a funnel shaped member disposed behind saidengine fan and directed toward said fan to pick up air therefrom; adischarge tube connected at one end to said funnel shaped member toreceive air therefrom and vented to the atmosphere at the other end; asuction tube joining said discharge tube at right angles behind saidfunnel shaped member wherecollecting tube and said air discharge nozzleto direct air into said automobile; a second conduit having one endconnected to said suction tube and having its other end positioned belowsaid dashboard to collect air from said automobile; and a butterflyvalve in said air-collecting tube and a flexible control cable connectedto said valve and leading to said dashboard and operable from saiddashboard to control flow of air through said air-collecting tube.

2. The subject matter of claim 1 in which said air discharge nozzleincludes a deflector having a side plate forming an acute angle withsaid rear window so as to form a narrow discharge orifice to direct astream of air against said rear window, having a floor portion to whichthe first conduit connects and having end walls.

3. A ventilating system in an automobile activated by the engine fan anddischarging air in the rear of the passenger compartment and picking upair at the front of the passenger compartment, comprising: a funnelshaped member disposed behind said engine fan and directed toward saidfan to pick up air therefrom; a discharge tube connected at one end tosaid funnel shaped member to receive air therefrom and vented to theatmosphere at the other end; a suction tube joining said discharge tubebehind said funnel shaped member whereby suction is created in saidsuction tube by air passing from said funnel shaped member through saiddischarge pipe; an air-collecting tube having one end disposed tocollect air at the mouth of said funnel shaped member and having itsother end extending rearwardly and to one side in the direction ofrotation of said engine fan; an air discharge nozzle positioned in therear of said passenger compartment; a first conduit connecting saidair-collecting tube and said air discharge nozzle to direct air intosaid automobile; and a second conduit having one end connected to saidsuction tube and having its other end positioned at th front of saidpassenger compartment to collect air from said automobile.

HENRY E. WUNDERLICH.

References Cited in the file Of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,653,667 Ryder Dec. 27, 1927 2,492,506 Stinnett Dec. 27, 1949,604,837 Backe July 29, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 852,716France Nov. 9, 1939 518,122 Great Britain Feb. 19, 1940

